NEWARK — State Senate President Steven Sweeney and Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg told the NJ Transit Board of Directors that more than 100,000 New Jersey commuters who use the Port Authority Bus Terminal are treated like "third class citizens," forced to endure frequent delays, crowded, hot waiting areas, a lack of Wi-Fi and other inconveniences at the end of every work day.

Sweeney (D-Gloucester) said that while many commuters have little choice but to take the bus, either because of economics or limited rail service, they should be treated like consumers, with a choice to take their business elsewhere if neglected for too long.

"If we were a private-sector entity, we would be out of business right now," Sweeney told board members at the agency's monthly meeting this morning in Newark. "I would love it if it were the other way around — I wish we had 130,000 people coming into New Jersey for jobs."

Steve Strunsky/The Star-Ledger

But that's not the reality, Sweeney said, so New Jerseyans who commute into New York to work deserve a "state-of-the-art" bus terminal.

NJ Transit's acting chairman, Joseph Bertoni, welcomed the lawmakers, and said Gov. Chris Chrisie and the transit board were sensitive to the plight of bus commuters. But he defended NJ Transit bus service under the circumstances.

"This is not something new to us," Bertoni said. "The Governor and we are acutely aware of the problems at the Port Authority (Bus Terminal)."

"We perform the very, very best we can at a very poor terminal," Bertoni said.

Asked whether Christie supported a new bus terminal, a spokesman for the governor, Kevin Roberts, issued a statement noting that a special panel convened by Christie and Gov. Andrew Coumo of New York in the wake of September's George Washington Bridge lane closures was now looking into how Port Authority operations, governance, structure and management could better serve the agency's core mission of enhancing regional transportation.

"We will await the work of that panel and its recommendations for improving the Port Authority’s operations to ensure it is serving the people of New Jersey and the region as effectively as possible,” Roberts stated.

The bus terminal is operated by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and the two Democratic lawmakers urged NJ Transit officials to work with the bi-state agency to improve conditions at the existing terminal immediately, and to help plan for a new terminal and bus garage as soon as possible.

Port Authority board members from New York and New Jersey have also expressed concerns about the terminal, and the agency is looking into adding a new terminal and/or bus garage to the the agency's $27.6 billion,10-year capital plan adopted in February. Port Authority Executive Director Patrick Foye, an appointee of Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York, and Deputy Executive Director Deborah Gramiccioni, a Christie appointee, issued a joint statement this afternoon following the transit board meeting providing an update on the situation.

“We have worked to repurpose $90 million in the Capital Plan, subject to Board approval, as an initial investment to begin work later this year to upgrade the Port Authority Bus Terminal, which serves more than 250,000 commuters a day," the statement read. "In addition, the Port Authority’s $27.6 billion Capital Plan also contemplated the sale of air rights at the bus facility, and the Board just approved an air rights transaction that will provide $115 million in funds to the agency, which exceeded our expectations and will further enable us to address critically important issues at the Bus Terminal. We expect to generate additional funding through similar transactions in the months to come that can be reinvested in the facility.”

The terminal, which opened in 1950 a block east of the Lincoln Tunnel, was designed for smaller buses and fewer passengers. Space and capacity issues now cause regular delays for the NJ Transit buses, which account for 70 percent of the terminal’s traffic.

Buses forced to wait for gates spew exhaust and contribute to traffic congestion. The lack of a garage means empty buses are driven back to New Jersey following the morning rush; and then return empty to pick up homeward-bound commuters in the evening.

Plans for an $800 million terminal/garage complex were scrapped by the Port Authority in 2011, when officials said there wasn't enough money to pay for it. But supporters of a new terminal say an improving financial outlook could help pay for it, and the Port Authority is seeking a $230 million grant from the Federal Transit Administration to help pay for a garage.

Weinberg invited Sweeney to accompany her to today's NJ Transit meeting as part of a public campaign she launched last month, a year after she said she first contacted the Port Authority about the bus station but got no response.

She confronted Port Authority board members on the bus terminal at their last monthly on June 25, where she was welcomed by agency officials who acknowledged that the bus terminal had been neglected for too long. It was after she held a town meeting in Teaneck that drew more than 100 commuters angered by the terminal’s lack of air conditioning, helpful signs and Wi-Fi on the lower level, rendering NJ Transit smartphone apps useless.

Weinberg told transit directors this morning that commuters routinely spent two hours on their evening commute, including waiting for their bus in cattle-like conditions, without air conditioning or Wi-Fi access, defeating the purpose of mobile phone applications designed to provide information about their commute.

Talking to reporters later, Sweeney said there are short-term improvements that NJ Transit or the Port Authority could make that do not require a huge capital outlay, including repairing or improving air conditioning and signage.

NJ Transit Executive Director Ronnie Hakim, who replaced James Weinstein in March, said the agency is working with the Port Authority and the New York City Police Department on gate assignment and traffic management efforts to reduce delays, crowding and traffic congestion at the existing bus station, while the bi-state agency explores federal funding and its own revenue sources for a new terminal.

"We know that the evening rush is very difficult for our customers, and it's only by working with the Port Authority and City of New York that we can make improvements," Hakim said.